Getting back to diving after 20 years - what to do with old gear?

[SandyRobinson]

You got some good advice from Walter. Just because some of you gear is old does not make it unsafe. The techs will tell you if it is.

The price for servicing your reg seems high to me but it could be a location thing.

 

[Paladin]

Get rid of everything. Not just because of technology updates, though that is reason enough, but the degradation of the material in various pieces of equipment, coupled with the accumulation of dust or other particulates through time has rendered everything too dangerous and unreliable to use. You need quality equipment in good shape, properly maintained, to be comfortable and safe under water. If you don't want to buy everything at once, start with mask snorkel and fins, then other equipment as you choose. You don't need top of the line. Lots of retailers have excellent values on every kind of gear.
DO NOT keep the tank. It is old, unmaintained, could have non-detectable corrosive flaw, and is very dangerous. You don't need to buy a tank.
DivemasterDennis

Not true. Plain and simple. Someone is painfully uninformed.

 

[drdaddy]

Keep the Conshelf 21, the Calypso octo, the pressure gauge and the tank.

The Conshelf is still an excellent reg and uses the same internal parts as the AquaLung Titan. The Calypso octo is till a good second and if the pressure gauge works, use it. If the Voit tank passes hydro and vis, dive it.

I have several Conshelf regulators of different models and I love them. They are bulletproof, dependable and easily serviced. I'm a big fan of the Conshelfs.

$130 dollars for service sounds high to me. I usually service my own regs but on the rare occasions that I've had my LDS do it, it's been around $40. Even at $130, that's about a third to a quarter what you would spend on a new, comparable setup.

Steel tanks last a very long time. We have eleven steel 72 tanks from the '60s and '70s and dive them all. I'm using two of them as a set of doubles connected by an old-style J-valve manifold that has one, center tap between the tanks.

No sense in throwing out gear that is perfectly serviceable.

TommyDSports sells good wetsuits for less than a hundred bucks. I have a couple of them and they are surprisingly good for the price.

Tusa Liberator X-10 fins can be bought new for less than $30.

Check out the VUE mask from The Snorkel Mart. Inexpensive, very comfortable, fits well and better than average visibilty.

I agree completely with Paladin! My PADI Instructor son dives regularly with Conshelfs, and I have one myself for a backup. Great reg - use it!

 

[macado]

Why are people advocating throwing gear away?!

Once the regulators are serviced they will work fine. The BCD can probably be salvaged but you may want to update it anyway; I wont get into the backplate/wing debate but you may want to look into them. I would swap out the fins for Jet Fins or an equivalent.

Even if you do ultimately decide to get new gear, I would still keep the regulators, depth gear, BCD. Doesn't hurt to have back-up/extra gear.

 

[freshorangina]

junk it all cept the tank and get new gear ...think safe!

I tend to agree, I had some old gear I got checked out after being in storage for 15 years, checked out fine the first day, then the next day before a dive checked on things, and everything was leaking from regs to bcd. You do not want your gear to crap out on you in the middle of a dive. Think about how often you are going to go diving now, and make the investment accordingly.

 

[diveprof]

The reg and tank are OK. The BC and fins need repalcement. Now if this had been SP jet fins I'd say keep'um.

 

[Hatul]

All the rubber and some plastics are going to degraded and need to be replaced. Metal may be corroded. You may end up spending good money on old stuff, so I'd get new gear, assuming you're sure you're going to be diving.

Adam

 

[Paladin]

All the rubber and some plastics are going to degraded and need to be replaced. Metal may be corroded. You may end up spending good money on old stuff, so I'd get new gear, assuming you're sure you're going to be diving.

Adam

Why? If the tank passes hydro (and it most likely will) it still has many years of good service left in it and the Conshelf 21 is still an excellent regulator. To buy new would be a waste of money that could be better used elsewhere.

 

[Rich Keller]

Here is what I would do:
Conshelf 21 - get it serviced, it has 20 years left on it. Service is mostly replacement of the rubber and o-rings
Calypso - Either service it or replace it. The reg itself is fine and also has 20 years left on it, but some uninformed shops and DM's may say it is dangerous just because of its age.
Steel 72 - If it has the larger 3/4" valve threads it can be dove by your grand kids in 30 years. My oldest tank is a 1960, I'd have older but the 1/2" pipe thread used on the older tanks is a pain to work on.
SPG - It should be fine, but there are 2 very small o-rings that should be replaced
Reg Hoses - Check them out and replace as necessary - if you see cracks in the outer rubber when you bend them, or if they have deep slices and nicks, they need to be replaced.
Mask and Fin straps - Replace them
BC, Blow it up and make sure it holds air over night. If not it can be serviced.

The main thing is to think of any rubber part as life limited, it may work fine for a few more years or go south on you just before a dive. Would you take a car out and do 70 mph with 20 year old tires with visible dry rot cracks?

I agree 100%. Just replace the O rings and hoses. Once serviced these will be as good as and in some respects better then anything you can buy today. If you do buy new do not throw the old stuff away, I will take it.

 

[scubafanatic]

While I'm certainly a fan of buying used gear, I won't buy 'fixer uppers', I only buy stuff in new or essentially new condition if I buy 'used' gear. I don't have the tools/time/talent to rebuild my own regs, although I can do my own 'external' modifications (swap out O-rings/hoses/batteries/etc.) I don't overhaul my regs, replace BC bladders/tumble tanks or things like that. Since I'm a 'light' DIY person, I pay retail prices for labor, which is one good reason I don't buy gear that needs any major work/new parts. If it were me, the only gear you have that might be reasonably recycled are the tank and the regulator hard parts. Any 20 yr old plastics/rubber are likely toast. If you're lucky, you'll only be out $ 50 for a tank hydro/visual inspection, although the tank valve should also be rebuilt too. The regulator hard parts can likely be recycled (assuming no internal 1st-stage corrosion) but all the O-rings/seats/hoses/mouthpieces are also toast) The reg can likely be put back in service safely, but I question if it makes economic sense to do so, I'm sure I could score a good used E-Bay/Scubaboard classifieds/Scubatoys deal for a modern reg for the same $ (or less) than what you'll spend restoring yours. I'd definitely junk your other stuff as it's likely a 20 yr old mask will be 'hard'/not seal after 20 yrs of exposure/age, you can get much better fins now, and I'm not sure I'd trust the integrity of a 20 yr old BC/bladder.